The first thing I did when I received notice that I made BD, I listened to this show on my drive home. I literally cried. This show is full of musical nostalgia and I was so excited to finally be a part of the organization that performed this masterpiece. 2011 DCI was something else.
Interestingly enough, this was also one of my least favorite BD shows for a long time. People called me insane when I said that I didn't like this show but I loved Cabaret Voltaire (Now my second favorite show of all time!). There's just certain styles and tastes that appeal to everyone. I always found The Beat My Heart Skipped to be quite an oddly placed show, as it kind of appeared in the middle of the Blue Devils' "Avante-Garde" era, and this show felt more grounded and traditional by comparison. While I did come around to this show eventually, it took me quite a few years of watching occasionally before it all finally clicked and I felt the thematic strength that carries this production. It really makes you feel at home, even all the troubles that come with domestic-life, but also the bliss, which is perfectly encapsulated by the opening and closing hits, which are absolute bangers.
It wasn't the cleanest devs show or the best theme they've ever had, but damn there's just something about the music and visual that just speaks to you
i have a front ensemble background and my opinions are exactly the opposite. Im also never much of a bd fan but this is one of my favorite dci shows ever!!! I wish i saw it live I absolutely hear the high brass quirks but it just builds character
This corps owned the field better than any BD corps I’ve ever seen live. Saw them so many times on the SoCal tour that year when I marched academy. When I pictured how to move in 16-16, this is what I visualized.
As someone who was a rabid fan of DCI during this era but never marched, it's so cool seeing your perspective on little details (good or bad) that I didn't pick up on during my one live show a year in Atlanta or through grainy RU-vid videos.
I don't think perfection in terms of not fracking any notes is what makes a show good... something about this show is just so good to me. I've probably played it 100 times since 2011
This was the second year the horns were on the King horns which allowed them to open up their sound, a welcome change to the Dynasty horns they used from 2000-2009. While it’s not the cleanest BD horn line, it was incredibly powerful, and the music was arranged to showcase that so well.
Another very underrated aspect was the detail on the prop transitions, the part where the mellophones are adding the pipes onto the flower bases is so well done. The big issue was the schedule and having a TOC show in Texas so early. I think if the brass had more time early on rather than having to do a TOC show early and losing time to travel on the road, the corps would have won. I remember John saying that they just didn’t have enough time to clean things musically, like the trumpet double tongue feature because the design process took so much further into the season than normal.
When I was on tour in 11 my corps lower placements allowed me to experience a lot of the top corps minus BD because they were out west I was used to crown cadets cavies. I vividly remember being at the ocean springs show in Mississippi. Their sound just blew me away. In a sea of “dark” sounding corps because of most corps running 16 contras due to the crown influence, they were refreshing.
one thing about this recording that i don't like is that you can barely hear the two screamers during the ballad. i've heard recordings where you can very clearly hear them and it sounds much better
Nice review. Enjoy your perspective. I love this show mostly for the brass, percussion, and the music. Like any year the Blue Devils, once clean, can march and play the spots off the material given to them. The corps was impressive. I was there all 3 nights in Indy in 2011. I did feel The Cadets deserved the title. They were magnificent. But I also felt BD was a solid 2nd place. Maybe some of the visual stuff held them back. I heard the brass scored lower than normal (maybe 4th), which blows my mind because to me that brass line sounds good. A few things did not align but that happens with most corps. The top to bottom balance and quality of sound they produced was super nice! Very few corps can achieve that sonority and control from the high trumpet leads down to the tubas as well and as effortlessly as Blue Devils can. I think the closer visually was somewhat weak. The show simply lacked an impactful ending. But the marchers did their job. Overall a musically fun show and a great listen in the car while driving.
The one Blue Devils show I've watched probably 30+ times but still confuses me to this day is 2012 Cabaret Voltaire. I was just never able to understand anything about it.
I didn't care for 2011. 2013 either, for that matter. And I'm a huge BD fan. I streamed finals in 2011, and after BD performed, I was like, blah. BD had very mature and talented corps in 2011 and 2013, so I think the staff thought they could sell shows that were more "sophisticated" or "elegant" than usual, but each came off kind of flat, IMO. But whatever they might've done in 2013, it was likely to fall short following the greatest show on turf in 2012.
Shows that“Kind of fell flat” and “fell short” lost marginally by .5 and .25. Goes to show that BD owns the activity. It takes a monster of a show to beat them and that’s what the cadets and crown were in 11 and 13
Heh, my favorite part of this show is your least favorite (Dream a Little Dream). Although I can see what you mean about the articulation and intonation.
